Sunday, March 27, 2016

For centuries, the Full Moon phase of the Moon figured prominently in the annual calculationof the date of Easter. However, this could possibly change within the next decade.(Image Sources: Wikipedia.org , By Gregory H. Revera - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11901243 )

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Since the beginning, Astronomy has been used
to calculate the date of Easter. In the 1930s and 1940s, a planetarium show explaining how Astronomy helped to calculate the date of Easter was shown to the public at several of the early planetaria, including Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science.

However, in January a leading
theologian announced that several Christian denominations may soon
reach an agreement to fix the date of Easter, once and for-all.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby, the
Archbishop of Canterbury of the Church of England, said he has been
in on-going discussions with the Catholic, Coptic, and Orthodox
churches regarding the selection of a fixed date for Easter. In addition to Archbishop Welby, these discussions included Pope Francis, the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, head of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Last June, Pope Francis told a global gathering of priests in Rome, "we have to come to an agreement" regarding a common date for Easter. According to the Catholic News Agency, he joked that right now one Christian could tell another, "When did Christ rise from the dead? My Christ rose today, and yours next week."

Archbishop Welby said
the agreed-upon date for Easter would probably be the second or third Sunday of
April. However, changing the date of Easter may not occur for a
decade or more. Secular governments would have to approve the change,
and calendar and almanac publishers would have to be given advance notice of the
date of implementation of such a change.

Actually, the effort to fix the date
for Easter is nothing new. According to Archbishop Welby, "Equally, I think the first attempt to do this was in the 10th century." Others note that this is one of the longest running controversies of Christianity, possibly dating back as far as the 2nd century.

Currently, Easter is one of the
moveable feasts, with the date determined by a lunisolar calendar,
similar to the Hebrew Calendar. The difficulty in calculating Easter is due to the fact that our civil calendar does not match astronomical cycles.

A combination of Hebrew, Roman, and Egyptian calendars, along with local culture and customs, all contributed to the Easter calculations we have today. The Egyptians based their calendar on the cycle of the Sun, which was adopted by Roman, and later, Christian cultures. The Hebrew Calendar is based partly on the lunar cycle (the Islamic Calendar is also based on the Moon). The Easter calculations become complicated when both lunar and solar calendars are used, combined with the fact that different Christian sects use different mathematical formulas.

Jesus Christ's death and resurrection occurred during the Jewish holiday of Passover (which begins on the night of a Full Moon, immediately after the Vernal Equinox), according to the Christian Bible. However, this led to confusion of what date to celebrate Easter, with Christians celebrating the holiday on different dates.

In the year A.D. 325, the First Council of Nicaea
of the Roman Catholic Church established only two rules for the
annual determination of Easter: independence from the Jewish Calendar
and worldwide uniformity. The rules for actual calculation of the
date of Easter took centuries to work-out.

Calculating the date of Easter caused
several controversies, partly because some Christians did not want Easter to be associated with the Jewish Passover. In at least one case, violence accompanied
such a controversy. In attempting to calculate the date of Easter,
from astronomical observations, the 5th century astronomer
and mathematician, Hypatia of Alexandria, was murdered by a clique of
Bishop Cyril's zealots, according to the Church historian Socrates
Scholasticus.

In 725, an English monk, the Venerable Bede (later known as Saint Bede) made the general
rule for determining the date of Easter, by stating, “The Sunday
following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give
the lawful Easter.” However, the Ecclesiastical rules are more
specific.

Easter was determined to occur on the
first Sunday, after the Ecclesiastical or Paschal Full Moon
(actually determined to be the 14th day of an Ecclesiastical
lunar month; this date could be a couple days away from the
actual Full Moon), which occurs on or soonest after the Vernal
Equinox (which is fixed as March 21, even if this Spring Equinox
occurs on March 19 or 20, which often happens).

Traditional Easter is celebrated by
most Western Christian sects today, March 27, the earliest the holiday has been celebrated in several years. Actually, Easter was also on March 27 in 2005 and on March 23 in 2008. One of the reasons for the early Easter, this year, is due to the use
of the Gregorian Calendar, a reform introduced by Pope Gregory XIII
in 1582. By the Gregorian Calendar, Easter always falls between March
22 and April 25, within about seven days of the actual, astronomical
Full Moon. The most common date for Easter, in the Gregorian Calendar, is April 19.

Orthodox or Eastern Catholic churches
do not celebrate Easter, this year, until May 1, one of the latest dates this feast day can occur. These churches
continue to use the Julian Calendar to calculate Easter and other feast days including Christmas (January 7). By the Julian Calendar, the March 21 date of the
Equinox is equated with April 3 (in our current century), when
converted to the Gregorian Calendar used as the civil calendar of all
nations where the Orthodox Christianity is predominant. Then,
Easter always falls between April 4 and May 8 of the Gregorian
Calendar. The Julian Calendar Full Moon is always several days after
the astronomical Full Moon, hence, the Orthodox Easter is often
later, relative to the visible Moon phases, than the Western Easter.

Due to the need to use Astronomy to
calculate the date of Easter and other moveable feasts, the Roman
Catholic Church has supported an astronomical observatory for several
centuries. The Vatican Observatory, originally established as the
Observatory of the Roman College of Rome in 1774, is now located in
Castel Gandolfo, Italy. The Holy See, since 1993, also operates the
Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope at the Mount Graham
International Observatory in southeastern Arizona.

If the date of Easter is ever fixed, Astronomy will no longer be part of this particular determination. But of course, even if Easter is designated as a certain Sunday in April, Astronomy will still be needed for the determination of the civil calendar for the actual date Easter falls on each year.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Photographs of a Penumbral LunarEclipse in January of 1999 shows thedimming of the Southern Hemisphereof the Moon (left photo) compared tothe Moon seen outside of the Earth'sshadow (right photo).(Image Sources: Wikipedia.org , BySockPuppetForTomruen (talk) - Icreated this work entirely by myself.Transferred from en.wikipedia, PublicDomain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17097701 )

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Early on Wednesday Morning, 2016 March
23, very observant viewers may be able to see a dim Penumbral Eclipse
of the Moon or Lunar Eclipse.

A Penumbral Eclipse of the Moon is dimmer than a Partial Eclipse of the Moon. During an eclipse of the Moon, the Earth's solar shadow shines on part or all of the Moon, at the time of the Full Moon. The Earth actually casts two shadows: the main and darker Umbral Shadow along with the secondary and dimmer Penumbral Shadow.

In the case of a Total Lunar Eclipse, the Earth's Umbral Shadow completely envelops the Moon. In the case of a Partial Eclipse of the Moon, only part of the Moon is covered by the Umbral Shadow. In the case of a Penumbral Eclipse of the Moon, only the dimmer Penumbral Shadow covers part or all of the Moon.

Of course, weather conditions have to
be clear to have a chance to see this eclipse. A Lunar Eclipse or
Eclipse of the Moon is the type of eclipse which is safe to look at with
the naked-eyes, binoculars, and telescopes. However, the shading of
the Moon during such a Penumbral Eclipse is extremely subtle, and not
everyone may be able to tell when the eclipse is occurring.

The entire eclipse could be visible to
viewers in western North America, Hawaii, Alaska, eastern Australia, New
Zealand, Japan, and the Pacific Ocean. Part of the eclipse, before
local moon-set, would be visible in eastern North America and South
America. Parts of central and eastern Asia could experience part of
the eclipse after local moon-rise. Europe and Africa will not
experience this eclipse at all.

Special Note: Although the times given for the beginning and ending of the Penumbral Eclipse are the correct times, it is highly unlikely that the beginning and ending can be viewed visually. Observations of when the Penumbral Eclipse is first visible, and when the Eclipse is no longer visible, would be valuable to Science. On average, a Penumbral Eclipse is only visible a half-hour before until a half-hour after the time of greatest eclipse.

And, that bright star-like object near the Moon is the planet Jupiter.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Comet P/2016 BA14 (Pan-STARRS) will make a safe but extremely close pass of Earth on March 22nd. NASA / JPL

- See more at:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/p2016-ba14-closest-comet-in-almost-250-years03162016/#sthash.KgXD06pg.dpuf

Comet P/2016 BA14 (Pan-STARRS) will make a safe but extremely close pass of Earth on March 22nd. NASA / JPL

- See more at:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/p2016-ba14-closest-comet-in-almost-250-years03162016/#sthash.KgXD06pg.dpuf

Comet P/2016 BA14 (Pan-STARRS) will make a safe but extremely close pass of Earth on March 22nd. NASA / JPL

- See more at:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/p2016-ba14-closest-comet-in-almost-250-years03162016/#sthash.KgXD06pg.dpuf

Comet P/2016 BA14 (Pan-STARRS) will make a safe but extremely close pass of Earth on March 22nd. NASA / JPL
- See more at:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/p2016-ba14-closest-comet-in-almost-250-years03162016/#sthash.KgXD06pg.dpuf

On the first two full days of Spring
(March 21 and 22) two, possibly related, comets will pass very close to
the Earth. The second and smaller of the two comets is predicted to become the second closest comet to ever approach the Earth.

The day before the first comet fly-by, March 20, marks the beginning of Spring. And, there is now an effort to have the
day of the Vernal Equinox designated to commemorate the life of the
first female astronomer, Hypatia of Alexandria, in ancient Egypt.

This will be the first time two comets have come close to the Earth only a day apart. Scientists are eagerly awaiting their arrival, hoping to learn much more about the nature of comets. In fact, the Hubble Space Telescope and several ground-based telescopes will be used to watch these two comets as they fly by our planet.

The first of the two comets, Comet 252P
/ LINEAR, will probably be the brightest comet, but it will not come
the closest to Earth. This comet will come within about 3.3 million
miles / 5.3 million kilometers of our planet on March 21, which will still make it
one of the ten closest comets to ever approach the Earth. But, this
is not real close, considering that the Earth's Moon, on average, is
238,855 miles / 384,400 kilometers from our planet.

During the last weeks of March, Comet
252P / LINEAR will be primarily visible in the Southern
Hemisphere—perhaps even naked-eye visibility, but only away from
city lights. In North America, binoculars will probably be needed to
see this comet, but, again, you need to be away from city lights. And, remember such observations are always weather-permitting. At
the end of this blog post there will be a link to an article from Sky
and Telescope Magazine, which includes two star charts for finding
this comet during the last weeks of March and the beginning of April.

This comet was not expected to be this
bright, but amateur astronomers have noticed it brightening more
rapidly than expected. According to University of Maryland's Matthew
Knight, Comet 252P / LINEAR has a bright emerald-green color, from carbon
gas emanating from the comet.

The second comet, trailing Comet 252P
/ LINEAR, was quite a surprise. At first they thought this object was
an asteroid, until Matthew Knight discovered the object had a tail.
Designated Comet Pan-STARRS P / 2016 BA14, both comets seem to have
the same path through the Solar System. Hence, it is conjectured that
both comets may have originated from the same single comet.

On March 22 at about 12:00 Noon Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT) /
16:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) Comet P / 2016 BA14 is expected to become the second
closest comet to ever approach Earth, when it comes within 2.1 mllion
miles / 3.4 million kilometers of Earth. However, despite coming
closer to Earth, this comet is dimmer, and a telescope will be needed
to see it.

Lexell's Comet was the closest comet to
ever approach the Earth. This comet came within 1.4 million miles /
2.2 milion kilometers of our planet on 1770 July 1. Although actually
discovered by famous astronomer Charles Messier, it became popularly
known as Lexell's Comet after the comet's orbit was calculated by
astronomer and mathematician Anders Johan Lexell.

For a time during the 20th
century, the Comet of 1491 was considered the closest comet to ever
come near the Earth, at 873,784 miles / 1,406,219 kilometers from the
Earth. However, Japanese researcher Ichiro Hasegawa, of the Faculty
of Socio-Cultural Studies at Otemae University retracted this claim
in 2002, saying "The orbital elements for Comet 1491 II = C /
1491 B1 (Hasegawa 1979) are to be retracted, because the records of
this comet were misunderstood."

The
season of Spring, in Earth's Northern Hemisphere,
begins at the Vernal Equinox: early Sunday Morning, 2016 March 20 at
12:30 a.m. EDT / 4:30 UTC --- the time of the posting of this blog post. And this year, Spring begins on Palm
Sunday, the
beginning of Holy Week in the Christian faith.

In the Southern Hemisphere, this marks the astronomical beginning of the season of Autumn.

This year, Spring arrives earlier than
any previous year since 1896! In fact, ever since the year 2000,
which was a leap year (unlike the year 1900 which was not a leap year
and the year 2100 which will not be a leap year, due to Pope
Gregory's calendar reform of 1582), the Vernal Equinox of each
succeeding leap year in the 21st century will be earlier
than that of the previous leap year!

These earlier Vernal Equinoxes during
the 21st century are due to the difference between the
Tropical Year or Solar Year (whch is measured from the time of the
Vernal Equinox of one year to the time of the Vernal Equinox of the
next year: 365.242 days) and the common calendar year of an even 365
or 366 days. The earliest Vernal Equinox of the 21st
century will occur on 2096 March 19 at 10:03 a.m. EDT / 14:03 UTC.

The Vernal Equinox is used in the solar
calendars of Iran and Afghanistan as the beginning of their calendar
year. In ancient times, the Vernal Equinox, then celebrated by the
old style calendar on or near March 25, was also the beginning of the
calendar year for many ancient civilizations.

The Vernal
Equinox is also the first day of the National Cherry Blossom
Festival held each year in Washington, DC. This festival commemorates
the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the Mayor of Tokyo to the
City of Washington. The festival runs through April 17 this year.

Physicians have
declared the first week of Spring as Medicine Cabinet Clean-Up Week.
They urge families, as part of their annual Spring cleaning, to
clean-out the medicine cabinet of old and expired pharmaceuticals
which are no longer being used. This would prevent other family
members from using these old drugs by accident, or the beginning of
drug abuse.

Astronomical
historian Ari Belenkiy, who just finished an academic paper on the
life and death of the first female astronomer, Hypatia of Alexandria,
has started an effort to have the day of the Vernal Equinox, March
20, designated as a day commemorating Hypatia's life.

Hypatia was a
Greek astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher, daughter of the
mathematician Theon Alexandricus, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt
during the late 4th and early 5th centuries. At
that time Alexandria was part of the Eastern Roman Empire, which had
a great rivalry with the Church of Rome. This led to deep divisions
in Alexandria.

Due to the fog of
time, there is much dispute regarding the events surrounding the
death of Hypatia. According to the Church historian Socrates Scholasticus, a clique of Bishop Cyril's zealots
killed Hypatia, due to a deep conflict between the Governor and
Bishop of Alexandria. Hypatia's astronomical calculations regarding
the date of Easter may have set the mob against her.

Although none of
Hypatia's writings survive, she is reported to have made significant
academic contributions in the fields of Astronomy and Mathematics.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Samuel Pierpont Langley, second Director of Pittsburgh's
Allegheny Observatory and third Director of the Smithsonian
Institution (then considered the nation's highest scientific
appointment) assisted the railroads in the establishment of time
zones by providing precise time signals via the telegraph.(Image Sources: Wikipedia.org , By Low resolution in context, Public Domain,https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1496860 )

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

At the moment of the posting of this
blog post (Sunday Morning, 2016 March 13 at 2:00 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time / 7:00 Coordinated Universal Time), Daylight Saving
Time has taken effect in the Eastern Time Zone with 2:00 becoming
3:00.

At this time, most Americans will be
advancing their clocks by one hour (except for computerized clocks
which advance automatically) in the annual “Spring-Forward”
exercise to accommodate Daylight Saving Time—unless they advanced
their clocks before going to bed Saturday night. And, there are
always some who forget (and who may be late to church) or
procrastinate and need to change their clocks on Sunday.

Since 2007, the last time the law changed, clocks in America have advanced an hour on the second Sunday of March (previously, the first Sunday in April) and returned ("Fall-Back") to Standard Time on the first Sunday in November (previously, the last Sunday in October). This year, clocks will return to Standard Time on November 6, when 2:00 a.m. Daylight Saving Time will become 1:00 a.m. Standard Time.

Actually, the states of Hawaii and Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time, except for some Native American nation reservations in Arizona. Several American territories also do not observe Daylight Saving Time including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, and Guam.

March 13 is also the conclusion to the
annual National Sleep Awareness Week. Sponsored by the National Sleep
Foundation, this week highlights the importance of people getting
enough sleep each night. And, this is particularly important when the last day of this week
occurs on the day clocks are advanced an hour, with the possibility
that people may lose an hour of sleep if they do not plan for getting
an additional hour of sleep that night.

And, it is strongly suggested to use the twice-a-year time change to check, and possibly replace, batteries in vital warning instruments such as smoke / fire detectors / alarms, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors / alarms, and NOAA Weather / Hazard Alarm Radios (and / or other portable, transistor radios used to obtain weather broadcasts and other emergency news and information).

Although it may seem odd to have such a
time change occur at a time when most people are asleep, there is a
logical reason for the 2:00 time for the change to occur. With fewer
people awake, and few important events occurring at 2:00 in the
morning, this time change can happen fairly seamlessly, with no major
activities being adversely affected. Although 12:00 Midnight may seem like a more logical time for such a change, more people are awake, and more activities are still happening, at Midnight, particularly on a Saturday night / Sunday morning.

However, several states are considering
abandoning Daylight Saving Time, while a few states are even
considering moving to a different time-zone, year-round!

Instigated by the railroads to simplify
passenger schedules, time zones were established in the 19th
century. Technological advances of the time, such as the telegraph
and the transit-telescope, allowed Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory
to assist the railroads with precise time for the new time zones.

However, time zones are fairly large,
meaning that sunrise and sunset occurs at significantly different
times for a town on the eastern edge of a time zone and one on the
western edge of the same time zone. In the early 20th
century, some people wanted to provide more daylight in the evening
hours during the Summer months and proposed to advance all clocks by
one hour for “Daylight Saving Time.”

Actually, changing daily habits to take
advantage of more daylight during the Summer months was first
proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, while he was a diplomat in
Paris. In an anonymous letter that was published, he used satire to
suggest that it would be better to use the sunlight of the morning
rather than to waste candles in the evening. Although, it should be noted that he did not
actually propose a plan similar to the Daylight Saving Time we know
today.

Robert Garland, a Pittsburgh
industrialist and a member of the Pittsburgh City Council for 28
years (1911 to 1939), is considered the “Father of Daylight
Saving,” as he chaired the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's national
“Special Committee on Daylight Saving.” He fought hard for the
establishment of Summer Daylight Saving Time.

It was not until 1918, shortly after
the United States entered World War I, that U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson instituted the Daylight Saving plan to help the War effort.
Although spurred by farmers and other agricultural interests who never liked Daylight Saving Time, the U.S. Congress repealed the plan seven months later.
However, several cities including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston,
and New York City continued using Daylight Saving Time during the
Summer months.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
resurrected Daylight Saving Time as “War Time” for the duration
of World War II. However, after the War, Daylight Saving Time did not
become Federal law during peace time until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was enacted. Hawaii never
observed Daylight Saving Time while Arizona (except some tribal
nations in the state) opted-out in 1968. Most of Indiana did not
observe Daylight Saving Time until 2006; now the entire state
observes it.

To reduce energy consumption during the
Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, year-round Daylight Saving Time was
established in the United States beginning on 1974 January 6.
However, many mothers were quite upset that this meant that their
children had to travel to school during the dark early mornings in
the Winter months. Thousands of these mothers (including the author's
mother, Eleanor A. Walsh) wrote letters to their representatives in
Congress complaining about this. After receiving thousands of letters
from angry mothers, Congress did not renew year-round Daylight Saving
Time, and this plan expired on 1975 February 23.

Now several states, including the
nation's largest, California, have proposed ending Daylight Saving
Time altogether. And, there are even some states such as Alaska and
some New England states which wish to join a different time zone,
along with eliminating Daylight Saving Time.

California State Assembly member Kansen
Chu (D-San Jose) has introduced a bill which would allow the state's
voters to decide whether to continue the twice-a-year changing of the
clocks, or to switch to either Standard Time or Daylight Saving Time
year-round.

Other states considering similar
measures include Florida, Kansas, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan,
Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Texas also considered such
a change recently, but has decided not to proceed with a change at
this time.

Several New England states are
considering seceding from the Eastern Time Zone to the Atlantic Time
Zone, which is currently used by most of the Maritime Provinces of
Canada as well as the American Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. By
moving to the Atlantic Time Zone, these states would be observing the
equivalent of Eastern Daylight Saving Time year-round.

Connecticut, which is home to a lot of
people who commute each weekday to New York City, would probably stay
in the Eastern Time Zone along with New York State.

And, Alaska is considering moving to
the Pacific Time Zone, abandoning its own Alaska Time Zone. As in New
England, this would have the effect of having Alaska Daylight Saving
Time year-round in Alaska. Of course the Alaska Time Zone would
remain, as one of the world's 24 time zones, but it is unclear what
it would be called if Alaska moved to the Pacific Time Zone.

Boston Globe columnist Tom
Emswiler first proposed the New England time zone switch last Autumn.
Since then, Massachusetts State Senator John Keenan (D-Quincy) and
Rhode Island State Representative Blake Filippi (I-Block Island) have
sponsored bills in their respective legislative chambers to move
their state to the Atlantic Time Zone.

An Internet web site < https://stopdst.com/ > and
companion Twitter campaign has recently started to lobby for an end to Daylight
Saving Time.

Many of the advocates of ending
Daylight Saving Time cite several studies that show that advancing
the clock adversely affects people's health, including more heart
attacks, traffic accidents, and workplace injuries. Economists say
that there is no real economic reason for Daylight Saving Time, save
for the possible reduction in energy usage; although, they say this
reduction is not definitive. If the energy savings caused by Daylight
Saving Time was significant in past decades, they say that the
advancement of technology and the change in lifestyle habits negates
most such energy savings today.

Abandonment of Daylight Saving Time, and particularly changing time zones, by several states will have an affect on national transportation and communication networks. Amtrak rail, Greyhound bus, and airline schedules will have to be changed and adapted in the states where such changes take place. National radio and television network schedules may have to be adapted, otherwise New England may receive programs an hour later than their normal Eastern Time Zone broadcast.

Federal law does allow states to exempt themselves from Daylight Saving Time, as Hawaii and Arizona already do. Changing time zones is another matter. Approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation or the Congress would be required if a state wished to change time zones.

Some economists doubt
Daylight Saving Time will ever be completely eliminated, due to the
influence of special interests (particularly the travel, transportation, and communication industries) as
well as Americans favoring long, sunny Summer nights. However, there
is no doubt the debate regarding Daylight Saving Time will continue.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

The Port Authority of Allegheny County
(PAT), Pennsylvania, the primary public transit agency serving
Metropolitan Pittsburgh, has proposed a major overhaul of the public
transit system's fare system policy.

The proposed changes include
eliminating the Downtowner Zone (free-of-charge zone for buses
serving the Downtown area; subway service Downtown and on the Lower
North Side would remain free-of-charge) and Zone 2, to have one flat
zone for the entire transit system. This would mean that riders in
Zone 2 would receive a major transit faredecrease, in
the hope that suburban ridership would increase to make-up for the
lost revenue.

Cash fare would increase by 25 cents,
to incentivize the use of the electronic fare card known as the
“ConnectCard;” the cost of a transit ride would remain the same
as today (Base Fare: $2.50) when the ConnectCard is used. A $7 Day
Pass would be added to the Weekly, Monthly, and Annual Passes already
available. All fares would be paid as one enters a bus, rail car, or
rail station (currently, fares are pay-enter on inbound vehicles and
pay-exit on outbound vehicles, except after 7:00 p.m. when all bus fares
are pay-enter for the security of the transit operators).

Paper transfers would be discontinued.
Hence, people paying cash fares would have to pay the full fare for
each transit ride. Transfer fees would continue to be accommodated
using the ConnectCard.

Continuation or Courtesy Transfers
(CT), which are free-of-charge transfers provided for riding between
main bus or rail lines and shorter, feeder or shuttle bus lines,
would also be eliminated according to the proposal. Continuation
Transfers are also provided, on request, to people riding between
Downtown and Mount Washington when using the Duquesne or Monongahela
Inclines; hence, this would be a fare increase for most
Incline riders.

Beginning next year, according to the
proposal, the purchase of a ConnectCard would cost $2 per card, for
acquiring new or replacement cards. Currently, ConnectCards are
available for no charge.

Most of these changes would be
implemented on the bus system on or after 2017 January 1. Changes on
the rail systems (both the “T” Light Rail / Subway System and the
Monongahela Incline) would be implemented on or after 2017 July 1.
When implemented on the rail systems, all fares would be completely
cash-less; ConnectCards would be required for use on the Light Rail
System and the Monongahela Incline. As The Duquesne Incline is
operated by the private Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne
Heights Incline, some PAT regulations will not apply on this Inclined
Plane.

PAT held three public hearings
regarding this proposal; two on February 24 and one on March 8. PAT
will continue to receive public comments on this proposal until March
31, via the PAT web site, electronic mail, or the U.S. Mail. More
information and all details of the proposed fare policy changes can
be found at this link:

Long-time public transit advocate Glenn
A. Walsh spoke at one hearing on February 24 and the hearing on March
8. Following the February 24 statement, Mr. Walsh was interviewed by WPXI-TV 11, WESA-FM 90.5 (link to text article near the end of this blog post), and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Following Mr. Walsh's March 8 hearing statement, he was interviewed (video and audio) by Pittsburghers for Public Transit. Following Mr. Walsh's public statement before the PAT Board of Directors meeting of April 29, he was interviewed by Elaine Effort of KQV-AM 1410 NewsRadio, and his public statement was quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (link to news article near the end of this blog post).

Good afternoon. I am
Glenn A. Walsh, 633 Royce Avenue, Mt. Lebanon, a regular Light Rail and bus rider
who has chosen not to drive a motor vehicle since 1985, to
help save energy, protect the environment, and reduce city traffic congestion.
I have been an active transit advocate for more than 38 years, including 3
terms (1984 to 1989) on the Allegheny County Transit Council as a Charter
Member. My comments today are my own and do not reflect those of any
organization.

First, as I mentioned
last month, free-of-charge Continuation Transfers should be retained, at least
for the Inclines. Otherwise, this would be a clear fare increase for
Incline riders, making Incline ridership to Downtown less attractive, and very
possibly increasing crowding on rush-hour buses which serve Mount Washington.

I do approve of the
establishment of a Day-Pass. This is long overdue.

I opposed the
elimination of Zone 3 some years ago, and today, I also oppose the elimination
of Zone 2. It is quite clear that, fifty years ago when PAT had 13 zones, this
was rather ridiculous. However, three zones seems quite reasonable and provided
greater equity in assigning the true cost of public transportation. I am
dubious that one flat zone will greatly increase suburban ridership,
particularly in these times of low gas prices. I fear the additional income
lost by this change will result in a substantial fare increase for everyone in
the next year or two.

As I testified last
year, even if you charge a fee for a ConnectCard at the automated machines at
rail stations and other locations, ConnectCards should continue to be available
for no charge at the PAT Service Center. This would provide an option for
people with limited incomes.

gaw

"Port Authority formally approves new flat fare system in January."Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2016 April 30.
One rider, Glenn Walsh, told the board the fare policy is a hidden
increase of $1 for passengers on the Monongahela Incline because there
no longer will be free transfers from certain bus routes to the incline.
The transfer fee will be $1 for ConnectCard users and the full incline
fare for cash customers.
About 2,000 use the incline on weekdays and Sundays and about 3,500 on
Saturdays.
Riders who use transfers to feeder routes on busways also complained
about the transfer fee or double fare during public hearings about the
fare policy in March, but the authority didn’t change that provision.

Kovash, Sarah. "Public Weighs In On Port Authority's Single Fare Proposal."
WESA-FM 90.5 Pittsburgh 2016 Feb. 24.
Glenn Walsh, who lives in Mt. Lebanon and uses public transportation to
get Downtown, said he worries the change will negatively affect the
inclines.
“This is going to discourage incline ridership (and) make it more
difficult for the inclines, particularly the Duquesne Incline, which is
operated privately, to continue operating,” Walsh said.
Link >>> http://wesa.fm/post/public-weighs-port-authoritys-single-fare-proposal

Monday, March 7, 2016

This map shows the path of the Solar Eclipse of 2016 March 8 to 9.(Image Sources: NASA, Wikipedia.org )

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

The first Solar Eclipse or Eclipse of
the Sun of 2016 occurs primarily over the Pacific Ocean March 8 to 9.
The Total Solar Eclipse will be seen within a narrow corridor in
Indonesia and the Pacific Ocean. A Partial Solar Eclipse can be
viewed over a wider area including Hawaii, western section of Alaska (except extreme northwestern tip of the state),
most of Australia, southeastern and eastern sections of Asia,
Oceania, and a large swath of the Pacific Ocean.

A Solar Eclipse or Eclipse of the Sun
occurs when the Moon, in its orbit around the Earth, partially or
totally blocks light from the Sun from shining on part of the Earth.
During a Total Solar Eclipse, for a short period of time, all
sunlight shining in a narrow corridor along a section of the Earth is
completely blocked. This small area of the Earth experiences darkness
similar to nightfall, during this short period of time. A Partial
Solar Eclipse differs from a Total Solar Eclipse as the Moon does not
completely block-out light coming from the Sun.

As always with astronomical observing,
viewing this eclipse is weather-permitting. If clouds obscure the
Sun, this eclipse can not be seen at all. Although, even if it is
cloudy, the sky will darken during the total phase of the eclipse,
and perhaps during very deep phases of the partial eclipse.

Directly viewing a Solar Eclipse or
Eclipse of the Sun with the naked-eyes is very dangerous, as any
direct sunlight entering your eyes could cause permanent eye damage
and possible blindness. Eye damage can occur quickly, without your
knowledge, as there are no nerve endings in the eyes; hence, eye
damage can occur without feeling any pain.

Blindness is very likely if looking
directly at a Solar Eclipse or Eclipse of the Sun when using a
telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device which enlarges
celestial objects, without also using proper filtering
equipment.

NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER look directly at the Sun or any type of Solar Eclipse
with a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device, unless you
have the proper training and the proper instruments to do so safely.

This Total Eclipse of the Sun can be
viewed safely on the Internet via the Slooh Community Observatory web
site. This web site will offer free-of-charge, live, viewing of the event on
Tuesday Evening, 2016 March 8 beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time (EST) / 23:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and ending at
9:00 p.m. EST / March 9, 2:00 UTC, at this Internet link: Link >>> http://main.slooh.com/event/total-solar-eclipse/

San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum, in collaboration with NASA and the National Science Foundation, is also sponsoring a live, Internet Web-Cast of the Total Solar Eclipse from Micronesia, 2016 March 8, 8:00 to 9:15 p.m. EST / March 9, 1:00 to 2:15 UTC:Link >>> http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse

If you live in the area where the Total
or Partial Solar Eclipse can be seen in the sky, and you do not have
the proper training and proper equipment to watch a Solar Eclipse
safely, you should check to see if there is a public viewing of the
eclipse in your area. Often local planetarium and / or astronomical
observatory institutions, science centers or museums, college or
university science departments, or amateur astronomy clubs have
public viewing sessions of Solar Eclipses, where properly-trained
astronomers will show the Solar Eclipse safely to the public using
the proper equipment.

Another way to safely view a Solar
Eclipse is by making a Solar Pinhole Viewing-Box, with a pinhole at
one end of the box and a white piece of paper (where the Solar Eclipse will be
projected upon) at the other end. Light from the Sun would shine
through the pinhole, projecting a very small image of the Sun onto
the white piece of paper at the other end of the box. You would place
your head inside the Solar Pinhole Viewing-Box and look at the
eclipse on the white piece of paper-projection screen (it is NOT safe
to look at the Sun through the pinhole !!!).

(Graphic by Eric G. Canali, former
Floor Manager of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute
of Popular Science and Founder of the South Hills Backyard
Astronomers amateur astronomy club)

A third way to safely observe a Solar
Eclipse is to obtain special “Solar Eclipse viewing glasses”
(available for purchase from certain vendors, including on the
Internet) which look like sunglasses but are much darker to protect
the eyes. Regular sunglasses are NOT safe enough to view a
Solar Eclipse, nor is smoked glass or exposed X-Ray film.

Made of aluminized Mylar usually in a
cardboard frame, such Solar Eclipse viewing glasses should be checked
before each time they are used, to ensure they are still safe. Point
the Solar Eclipse glasses at a lighted light bulb. If you see any
tiny holes of light coming through the Solar Eclipse glasses, then
that pair of Solar Eclipse glasses is not safe and should be cut-up
and discarded. If such a pair of defective eclipse glasses would be
used to view the Sun or a Solar Eclipse, the dangerous solar energy
would go through the tiny holes and could damage your eyes.

Such Solar Eclipse glasses usually cost
only a couple of dollars. So, it is better to buy a new pair than to
use a defective pair of eclipse glasses, that could damage your eyes.
But, always check any new pair of eclipse glasses, with a
lighted light bulb, to be sure the new pair is safe to use.

Here are the times for the Solar
Eclipse of 2016 March 8 to 9 (Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak,
NASA's GSFC) ---